At long last, Soundgarden will be inducted into the . Of course, as with any Rock Hall induction announcement, there is often discourse around acts who have yet to be inducted. With their pending induction, Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil has entered the conversation and named some bands he thinks are missing from the Rock Hall.
Speaking with , Thayil said when asked about who else should be in the Rock Hall, “I did an interview last week, and the first thing I said was Alice in Chains, and next thing I said was Iron Maiden.”
Thayil continued, “The third thing I said was Sonic Youth. And yes, the next thing I said was the New York Dolls. That’s because when the Stooges went in, I thought, ‘Why are the Stooges going in before the MC5?’ And the MC5 were the big brothers of that scene. And even though they weren’t from Detroit, I always put the New York Dolls in with them because they recorded around the same time.”
When Soundgarden was announced as being part of the Rock Hall’s 2025 class, Thayil told that the idea of being inducted was something the band talked about on occasion, even before Chris Cornell’s untimely death in 2017.
Thayil admitted that he had mixed feelings about the Rock Hall, especially in the early days of Soundgarden, which wasn’t too long after the Rock Hall was established. He said he changed his mind about the Rock Hall after Cornell inducted fellow Seattle rockers Heart, and following the inductions of Seattle grunge peers Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the latter of which also included Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron.
Thayil told Billboard, “Chris lived the experience and said the enthusiasm of the fans was eye-opening for him, and understanding how important that was — and Matt seconded it … Chris explained that to me, and that kind of changed things. Plus, I heard this from the Nirvana guys, the Pearl Jam guys, other friends, and other bands. So it really changed my perspective.”
The 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place on Saturday, November 8, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. The 2025 ceremony will live stream on Disney+. An edited special will air on ABC at a later date and will be available on Hulu the next day.
